£230,000 of developer money opens to Cheltenham community groups on 28 September, nearly 80% more than in 2025. Who can bid, and the 15 December deadline.
Community groups in most of Cheltenham can bid for a share of £230,000 from Monday 28 September. The money comes from developers. It pays for physical improvements that anyone can use, from playgrounds and paths to solar panels on a community hall.
Bids close at 10am on Tuesday 15 December 2026. The council set out the details on its Neighbourhood CIL Fund page and in a news release.
This round is much bigger than the last two. The council lists £129,438 allocated in 2025 and £128,355 in 2023. So this year’s pot is about £100,000 larger, or nearly 80% more than last time.
Where the money comes from
The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) is a charge the council places on most new building. It is based on the size and type of the new floor space.
Where a parish council exists, its share goes straight to that parish. In the rest of Cheltenham there is no parish council to receive it. So the borough council collects that neighbourhood share and hands it out through this fund, its page explains.
Who can apply
Only projects in areas without a parish council are eligible. The council lists nine wards that are wholly eligible:
- All Saints
- Benhall, the Reddings and Fiddlers Green
- College
- Hesters Way
- Lansdown
- St Marks
- St Pauls
- St Peters
- Springbank
Seven more are partly eligible, because parts of them fall inside a parish:
- Battledown
- Charlton Park
- Oakley
- Park
- Pittville
- Swindon Village
- Warden Hill
If you are not sure which side of the line your project is on, the county council publishes a map of Cheltenham’s parish boundaries.
What it will pay for
Projects must deliver publicly accessible physical improvements with an economic, social or environmental aim. They should respond to the pressure new development puts on an area, and the council wants them to help towards net zero.
The release gives these examples of what it would like to see:
- better safety for residents and businesses
- community facilities that bring young and older people together
- sport and physical activity facilities
- public realm work, including cultural and creative projects
- transport and access, such as signage, lighting, pedestrian safety, electric vehicle charging and cycling facilities
- green spaces, including landscaping, biodiversity and play areas
The council says it is “particularly keen” to hear from groups in the areas of greatest need.
The rules that trip people up
- You need a ward councillor on side. Applicants must show community support, including support from at least one councillor for the ward where the project would happen.
- Bids of £10,000 or more need a climate assessment. The council’s climate impact assessment tool has to be completed and emailed in alongside the application.
- The form is done in one sitting. The online application must be submitted in one go. After submitting, you can choose to save your response and edit it until the closing date.
There is an online information session for applicants on Microsoft Teams at 6pm on Thursday 15 October. Places are booked by email through the council’s fund page.
What won money last time
The council publishes every award. In 2025, 17 projects are listed, one of them with a £0 allocation. The largest awards were:
| Group | Project | Award |
|---|---|---|
| Alliance for Equality | Common Ground, a community and young people’s space | £13,000 |
| West Cheltenham Parochial Church Council | St Aidan’s Garden, Hesters Way | £12,388 |
| Vision 21 | Gloucestershire EcoHub | £12,171 |
| Everyman Theatre | Education Centre at Grove Street | £11,519 |
| The Petersfield Partnership | St Peters and The Moors community sports hub | £10,400 |
| The Playhouse Theatre | Capital investment scheme | £9,500 |
| Cheltenham Borough Council | Fiddlers Green playground improvements | £9,200 |
Smaller awards went to groups including the Friends of Hatherley Park (£1,500 for a replacement slide) and the Naunton Area Residents’ Association (£2,060 for the Triangle community garden). Three solar panel schemes were funded, for the Sea Cadets, Holy Apostles’ Primary School and the 10th Cheltenham scout group.
We covered the St Aidan’s Garden plans for Hesters Way in August.
What it means for you
- If you run a residents’ group, club, school or charity in one of the wards above, you have until 10am on 15 December. Talk to your ward councillor early, because their support is a condition.
- If your project costs £10,000 or more, download the climate tool now. It is a separate spreadsheet, not part of the form.
- If you live in a parished area such as Charlton Kings or Prestbury, this fund is not for you. Your parish council receives its own share of the levy directly, so ask it instead.
- If you have an idea but no group, the 2025 list shows what tends to win: playgrounds, paths, community buildings and energy savings, most of them between £2,000 and £13,000.
More Cheltenham local information: planning news, council tax bands, bin collection days.
Sources
- Cheltenham Borough Council, Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy Fund: dates, eligible wards, application rules and the 2023 and 2025 award tables. Read 25 September 2026.
- Cheltenham Borough Council, £230k funding available for new neighbourhood projects in Cheltenham, September 2026.
- Gloucestershire County Council, Cheltenham parish boundaries map.
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